Hirschauer Cracks Down on Discrimination with New Protections for Reproductive Health Decisions

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Reproductive health decisions will be better protected under a new bill passed by state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, ensuring that employers, landlords, financial institutions, and others can never discriminate against a person on the basis of contraception decisions, utilization of abortion care, or fertility treatment including in vitro fertilization.

“No one should ever face stigma for making decisions about their own reproductive health. I’m proud to stand alongside my colleagues who have fought bravely to ensure that bodily autonomy is a fundamental right here in Illinois, and it will remain one,” said Hirschauer. “Discrimination has no place in our laws, our workplaces, or our communities. As other states turn back time and move backward towards antiquated law, we’re sending a clear message — everyone deserves the right to make decisions about their own bodies without fear of retribution or bias.”

In striking down decades of protections for reproductive rights, the Supreme Court’s 2020 Dobbs v. Planned Parenthood decision left a complicated legal landscape in which private medical decisions once shielded at the federal level are now far less settled.

Continuing her work to uphold the right to choose Illinois, Hirschauer voted to pass House Bill 4867, which protects a variety of reproductive health decisions under the state’s Human Rights Act. Current law prohibits a business from terminating an employee, a landlord from refusing to rent to a person, or other arbitrary denial of basic accommodation to a person because of pregnancy. Hirschauer voted to expand these protections to also prevent discrimination against people for utilizing reproductive health services including abortion care, contraception, or in vitro fertilization.

The legislation was backed by Planned Parenthood, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence.